When the Japanese model Orient seemed to supply its first watch with a so-called character dial – one sometimes that includes a personality from the pantheon of comedian e-book or cartoon greats – Snoopy was the go-to selection. And never simply because each Orient and Charles M Schultz’s Peanuts mark their seventy fifth anniversaries in 2025. A licence deal was struck, with restrictions as to the place the three subsequent limited-edition fashions could possibly be bought – on-line by way of Orient solely – and for a way lengthy.
However why Snoopy? ‘I actually can’t clarify the attraction of Snoopy specifically,’ concedes Orient’s product supervisor Matt Clifford, ‘and on paper it’s an odd factor to discover a Fifties sketch character on a contemporary mechanical watch, and proper throughout the value spectrum too. Generally it’s the seemingly very random model crossovers that work finest as a result of they’re so sudden, although Snoopy – an leisure phenomenon – has definitely developed this vast attraction within the watch world.’
That, he argues on additional thought, is partially as a result of it’s not simple to seek out an IP, an mental property, that’s not contentious, or not so carefully related to at least one explicit tradition in order to make world gross sales difficult. Snoopy – simply-drawn, in black and white – isn’t so daring as to detract from the design of any watch the droopy-eared beagle finds himself on.
The emotional tug of a Snoopy watch
The Orient Snoopy watch, from £349.99
(Picture credit score: Courtesy of brand name)
However George Bamford, of Bamford Watch Division – which has simply produced a ‘Loopy Love’ Snoopy version watch with Frank Muller (priced £28,800 and bought out), and which has beforehand made Snoopy editions for Harrods, Goodwoof and Dover Avenue Market – means that attraction is extra deeply emotional.
‘It’s not simply nostalgia. There’s a mass resurgence of character watches [from Hello Kitty to Popeye, Babar The Elephant to the Muppets, Pokemon to Mario and, of course, the OG Mickey Mouse] as a result of they make you smile, which all of us want in these fascinating occasions,’ says Bamford, who has an workplace stuffed with Snoopy memorability and a 6ft-tall gentle toy model at house. ‘However out of all of them, Snoopy has that cool issue, partially as a result of the licensee has constructed the IP’s presence so effectively and allowed it to be interpreted with extra freedom.’
Certainly one of Snoopy’s hottest alter egos is Joe Cool, factors out Vishal Tolani, director of Dartmouth Manufacturers, proprietor of aviation-inspired watch model AV-8. Certainly, that Snoopy has a number of such alter egos – tennis participant, explorer and painter, to call just some – solely provides to the character’s design versatility. AV-8 just lately launched its personal limited-edition vary of 5 Snoopy designs, aptly that includes the canine in his ‘flying ace’ guise and coming in a doghouse-shaped field.
‘Snoopy has been marinating within the public consciousness for therefore a few years that, amongst all of the characters, it’s probably the greatest capable of resonate in numerous methods and so attain as many individuals as attainable,’ says Tolani. ‘Meaning the economics [of paying to use such an intellectual property] could make sense. Successfully, you’re paying lease on a model that will get you an viewers. They won’t have heard of AV-8 however they’ve heard of Snoopy.’
Bamford Snoopy watch, at present bought out
(Picture credit score: Courtesy of brand name)
That Snoopy has nearly turn out to be as a lot a cult topic on watch dials as off it – and likewise been co-opted by numerous streetwear and equipment manufacturers too – may counsel we’re at peak-Peanuts. Armitron was the primary watchmaker to place Snoopy on a dial, in 1956, although arguably it wasn’t till the acclaimed watch designer Gerald Genta began utilizing characters, the likes of Donald Duck and the Pink Panther, on high-end watches from 1984 that the thought was taken significantly by watch fanatics.
Peanuts characters have since been seen on watches from, amongst others, Seiko, Swatch and Omega. In 2003, Omega created a Snoopy Speedmaster impressed by NASA’s Silver Snoopy Award, given for an impressive contribution to mission success and launched in 1968 with Schultz’s fanatic assist.
And, certainly, Clifford says that Orient had some reservations concerning the threat of its new take being disregarded as simply one other Snoopy watch – which is one purpose why, for some extent of differentiation, Snoopy’s yellow chicken pal Woodstock additionally makes an look at the beginning of every month, the primary time a Peanuts character has been used on the date wheel.
Timex Peanuts watch, £95
(Picture credit score: Courtesy of brand name)
However perhaps the choices are restricted. Shawn Lawson Cummings, senior vp of innovation for Timex – which returned to the Snoopy licence earlier this 12 months, with a three-hand mannequin with a {golfing} Snoopy picture, and a GMT with a driving Snoopy one – argues that whereas there are a lot of comedian or cartoon characters a watch firm may pull from, only a few have simply the proper resonance. Snoopy nearly stands alone.
‘Mickey Mouse is up there,’ she says – Timex launched its first Mickey watch in 1933, ‘however there actually aren’t many that you may placed on a look ahead to an grownup in addition to a baby. The character has to have substance. It has to face for one thing [that transcends its inherent kiddiness] – and Peanuts is an ever-green iconic property speaking an optimism that crosses generations and cultures.’
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